let me be your shelter
by BeWhoYouAre99
Summary: AU. 24 year old Dean Winchester finds out that he's a daddy to 4 year old Ben Braeden, whose mom has just died in a car accident. Dean steps up to do what needs to be done. He's going to be a father to his son, and it probably isn't going to be easy but he's never been the type to give up on family.


**_"It's been a long time, been a long time,_**

 ** _Been a long lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely time. Yes it has..."_**

 ** _- Rock and Roll, Led Zeppelin._**

Sam is at Stanford, and John's AWOL as usual. It is what it is, and this is what Dean Winchester's life has become ever since Sam packed his bag and left for California two years ago. Usually everything's slow and quiet, and Dean gets enough time for himself and his proclivities ( _i.e., copious amounts of booze, poker, and pretty women who want him in their beds)_ when he doesn't have some fugly freak of nature to salt and burn.

At twenty four, Dean doesn't mind what he's doing. It really is what it is and he's proud to be of service. It's him against the world, and he's got a good thing going. He's helping people, and perhaps some of them would go as far as to call him a hero ( _even though he always brushes that off because he's not doing it for the glory)_ but he really doesn't care. He's out there, saving people, hunting things, making the world a better, as a single man show _(sorta)._

John stays in touch and calls him every few weeks, but both father and son are mostly doing their own thing except for the occasional _"Dean/Dad, I need you to help me fry a fugly"_ call that both of them expect to receive every few months. It's not an easy job, after all.

Sammy doesn't call. Or answer his big brother's calls. He's too busy being a hot shot college kid, and Dean understands. He doesn't like it ( _he doesn't want to_ ) but he unfortunately understands his brother's deep desire for a new life full of opportunities and _happiness_. With no hunting. No family bullshit. No nothing. Dean just wishes that this new life would have a place for him, the reliable older brother. But then again, it is what it is and there's no use crying over it. _Dean Winchester ain't no cry baby._ And as long as Sam is okay, Dean will keep his distance, to let his brother live his own life.

He's driving down the streets of freaking Iowa, post fugly frying, and he's tired, hungry, and sleepy. There's motel thirty miles away and he can't wait to drown himself in a nice hot shower before ordering some pepperoni pizza. There's loud music blaring in the car, and he occasionally nods his head to the beats of Led Zepplin that speak to his soul. He finds himself singing along to the words of _Rock and Roll,_ when his cell phone starts to ring and he glares at the blasted thing for always being a pain in his ass.

He plans on being fucking pissed if someone needs him to be on their way right now, and he lets it ring for a total of three seconds before his 'I'm a good, dedicated soldier and I need to answer my phone' training kicks in. He sighs. "Hello," he says in to the phone, just as he lowers down the volume of the music.

" _Mr. Winchester_?" comes a woman's voice on the other end.

Dean pauses. "That would be me," he replies.

" _I hate to have this conversation over the phone_ ," says the woman apologetically. _"But its of an urgent nature, and I really need to speak to you. My name is Alice Thompson, and I'm a social worker with Child Protective Services in Indiana."_

Dean goes deathly quiet at that. If there's one thing he hates more than airplanes and monsters, it's freaking CPS and their nosey asses. They've been after his family for more than half of his life (what with John appearing to be an unfit parent and all that bullshit) and he thought he was done with them. Once and for all. Which is why he's perplexed as to why they're contacting him now.

" _This is in regard to a four year old child that we have in custody,_ " continues Alice. " _Ben Braeden. His mother, Lisa, was in an accident a few days ago, and regrettably didn't survive, which is why we're contacting you about your son. I'm sorry it took us sometime to track you down because we didn't have a number listed for you-"_ she goes onto explain how she did a background search on him, and the last listed address she had for him was that of Bobby Singer's house, in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Apparently, Bobby seemed a little reluctant to provide Alice with Dean's number but once she explained the situation (she didn't have any business related needs, she was just a social worker working on a case regarding _Dean's son_ ), Bobby was more than happy to help her in locating him.

"My son?!" exclaims Dean, as his jaw drops and he brings the Impala to an abrupt stop. He can hear his precious tires protest at his action, as they screech loudly against the road, and usually, he would have been pissed off at himself for inflicting misery on his Baby, but right now, he has bigger problems to deal with. Namely this ridiculous woman who thinks he's the father of this kid.

But then the name Lisa Braeden hits him straight in the gut and he realizes that he hasn't thought about her in almost five years. She'd been that really flexible part time yoga instructor he'd had a weekend fling with, that one time he was nineteen and planned on driving through a bunch of states by himself. But his journey had ended right then and there in Lisa's apartment in Cicero, Indiana, and they'd sure as hell had a kickass time.

" _Since you're listed as Ben's biological father on his birth certificate, I'm sure we can figure something out for you to take him in. It shouldn't be a problem to draw up the paperwork. Of course, it would have been so much more difficult if you weren't mentioned on the birth certificate, but I think it'll work out this way, Mr. Winchester."_

Dean spaces out of the conversation and suppresses the urge to hit his head against the steering wheel. He's overcome by this overwhelming sadness at the thought of Lisa dying. He'd only known her for a while and she'd been gorgeous, fun and full of energy but he didn't really _know_ her. Nor did she ever extend him the courtesy of getting to know her or their son. But he's still sad that she's dead and that her kid is going to grow up without her. It's not fair but he knows that as well as anybody. He knows a thing or two about being four and full of fear after losing his mother.

All of a sudden, he's someone's dad, and this child needs him, which means he's gotta do what he does best, and swoop in to fix the situation. It's his job to make things better, even if that means stepping up to be a parent. He considers everything and musters out a response to Alice a moment later. "I'll be there tomorrow afternoon," he says quietly.

He isn't quite sure how the hell this is going to work but understands that there's another Winchester that he's suddenly accountable for, and it's not in his nature to let anyone ( _let alone,his own flesh and blood; his family_ ) to suffer. It's just not happening on his watch. It's not like he doesn't know how to raise a kid (exhibit A: Samuel Winchester, undergrad student with a full ride at Stanford) but this is different. Ben's existence throws Dean's entire world off its axis because he just didn't expect this news, today, tomorrow, or ever, for that matter. But that doesn't mean that he can give Ben the best life he deserves, and the thought of it makes him sick. Like he's ready to throw up.

Alice sounds relieved at that and hangs up, telling Dean how she's looking forward to meeting him the next day. She also tells him that she's glad that she's finally going to have some good news to tell Ben, since the poor kid doesn't have any family from his mom's side, and his dad is on the way.

/

Dean finds himself collapsing on the crappy motel bed as soon as he finds his way there. Looking up at the ceiling, he lets out a growl of frustration. He's never had unprotected sex. He's not stupid but Ben Braeden's existence indicates otherwise. There's also the fact that if Dean is twenty four right now, and this kid, his son, Ben is four, this means that he'd technically impregnated Lisa when they were both nineteen years old. Which is totally insane.

He reaches for his phone and dials Sam's number. Stupid Stanford kid would know what to do about the situation but he doesn't pick up, as expected and his big brother ends the call after six rings. He knows he should be used to it by now but it still stings because this is Sammy, and they're freaking brothers. And it's so ridiculously wrong that he's been ignored by his own family. Especially stupid Sammy.

So instead he calls his father, who also conveniently doesn't answer the call. So Dean decides to leave a message:

"Hey Dad, congratulations! You're a grandpa now," says Dean in a matter of fact way. He tries to imagine the shell shocked look on John's face and smiles at the thought of it. He'd been embarrassed when he'd been at the receiving end of The Talk (with John telling Dean that he could do whatever he wanted as long as he respected women, and didn't knock anyone up).

Little did that work out because here he was a mere eleven years later, just finding out that his baby mama was dead. "Oh and guess what? The kid's going to be living with me! Oh yeah, I'm guessing that might change things a little bit, dontcha think?"

/

The following morning at 6 AM, Dean sets out to get a head start on his journey to Indiana, to retrieve his newly discovered son. He can't help but wonder what the kid looks like; whether he's a mini Sam with those godforsaken puppy dog eyes or a mini Dean with too much confidence for a four year old child. Maybe he's a mini Lisa but Dean doesn't know what she was like as a child.

Meanwhile, John Winchester finds himself off duty after a long night of hunting. He packs up his guns and makes his way over to the nearest diner. After ordering a stack of pancakes and eggs, he settles down in the booth with a cup of coffee, only for it to hit him that it's been ten hours since he's even touched his phone. In his line of business, it's extremely important to stay on top of things.

There's a missed call and a voicemail message from Dean. He presses play and takes a sip of coffee at the same time, wondering what the call is about (while hoping and praying that his son isn't in trouble). Upon hearing the message, his cup slips right out his hands and cracks onto the floor as he realizes that his family has just expanded because his son is a freaking father now.

/

 **A/N: I'm so excited about returning to my fanfiction roots. It's been years since I've written anything for the Supernatural fandom, and I'm happy to be back.**

 **This story is most likely to be a few chapters long, depending how my ideas pan out.**

 **In the next chapter: Dean meets Ben.**

 **ALSO, I've ALWAYS been 1000% sure that Ben Braeden is Dean Winchester's biological son. LIKE, how could he not be Dean's?**

 **Thank you for reading! Please leave a review and let me know what you think of this so far xx**


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